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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

How to Train Your Pet

All it takes is a little Time and Love !!!

One may envy watching the neighbor’s dog stopping its barking, lying down, or retrieving the object which was thrown away etc as ordered by him, while yours may be a perpetual nuisance both for you and your neighbors. As the TV ad goes “don’t envy your neighbor’s pet” own one like that! There is no miracle in making the dog obey your orders. It can be made possible to anybody including yourself. Training of dog is not a hard job it is easier if your pet belongs to an intelligent breed and you have a some time and effort to spare.

Very simple.

The following is a simplified description of the training methods those can be practiced by ordinary people who have just some time to spare for their pets. A dog well-

Trained is treasure where as an untrained or ill trained one can be a menace for the whole locality. Doberman, Labrador, or Alsatian, are a dog trainer’s delight, as they pick up lessons faster hence they are considered as intelligent breeds.

Personality development.

Nowadays people spend a fortune to purchase new varieties of dogs such as Rottweiler, Doberman, Alsatian, pug etc and keep them simply as their status symbol. As in the case of man, real beauty of a dog lies in its personality, dog training is in a sense a personality development program for the pets. Beauty is not much for a pet but proper training is the real thing.

It follows wherever you go.

See how an little pug stole the heart of millions and became a celebrity overnight through “Hutch” ad. By trained behavior your dog also can be like that one which follows the kid “where ever it goes.

Catch them Young.

Best time to give training for your pet is at the age group of 2 to 3 months, after six months it becomes unfit for training.

Why is your pet Aggressive.

congenital aggression

Some dogs by their breed are aggressive. Example: Rajapalayam, Rottweiler etc.

environmental aggression

Sudden change of environment can make a dog aggressive

Aggression due to illness

A dog suffering from some illness or pain may show aggressiveness.

fear induced aggression

It may be the fear factor which makes the dog aggressive in certain times.

Better to chose early morning hours for training (a fresh brain is better for learning for pets also.

Feeding while Training

Never give any hard meal before or at the time of training (keep it a bit hungry to make snacks tastier) snacks such as biscuits, cake-crumbs etc during training are good tit-bits (token of appreciation).

Commonly used commands for Training.

“Sit down” or “down” to make it sit down.

“Come on” calling the pet to walk to you

“Catch”(Fetch) for fetching any object which is thrown against your pet

“No” – preventing him from doing any mistake.

“Retrieve”- the dog to take back any object

“Don’t touch” To prevent it from eating any food offered by strangers.

Method of training.

SIT DOWN

In order to make a pup “sit down” it should be called with low voice to sit down and simultaneously pressing down by holding in the neck with the hand. If it is showing reluctance, repeat the same by saying the word sit down, do it until it will do it by itself. Then stand apart from the dog and say “sit down” it will do it without pressure. “Tit-bits” (Token of appreciation) is a must in dog (or any pet) training. You can give one or two biscuits when it obeys each order itself.

SIT UP

Make the dog in the sit down position and then slowly raise his neck by saying the words sit up. Repeat this until it does it with out any reluctance. Stand apart from it and say “sit up” if it is not doing direct by hand, try again and again till it learns.

COME ON.

For this a dog should be called by its name several times a day for about a week to make it accustomed to its own name. A dog may be pulled by holding the cord attached to collar using the word “come on” the meal dish may be placed at a distance and drag it slowly towards it by saying the words “come on”. This should be repeated until it learns that lesson, and the dog should be patted and treated with some tit-bits each time saying some sweet words also works.

NO.

Always utter the word “NO” when it is doing any mischief, so that it will get accustomed to the word. Put the meal dish at a distant place when the dog is going to eat it, prevent it by uttering the word ‘NO’. Repeat this for some time and then allow it to eat. When the pup is constantly barking, put your fingers around its mouth and say “NO”. Repeat this for some time until it recognizes and stops barking when you say ‘NO’

DON’T TOUCH.

A dog should be trained not to eat any food offered by a stranger. For this, put the meal dish at a distance. When the dog approaches the food to eat it, say “don’t touch”. And take away the dish. Repeat this until it recognizes the word.

CATCH / FETCH.

For this throw an object (a small ball or a piece of bone is enough) away from it and utter the word CATCH. If it does not mind your command, take it to the object, put the object inside its mouth and say the word catch. Repeat the same until it runs towards the object and catch it. It should be patted affectionately as a token of appreciation. Every time and each time it runs and catches the object, you should remove the object form the mouth, and then throwing it to some distance. Repeat this until he catches the object and takes it back to you with out the application of any force.

Tips

training is a process which requires patience both for the trainer and trainee. Remember your trainee is a raw and innocent one, so always keep cool while engaged in the training process.

Always choose early hours of the day for training so that both you and your trainee get some exercise

Do not feed your dog before training (then only tit-bits will appeal).

Always pat your and some sweet words to your dog when he obeys your commands

A dog should be trained at the age group of 3-6 months

A well trained dog is worth ten friends and ill trained one equals ten foes. Let children play with the pets, this acquaintance give them the power to resist allergies towards animal odor and particles (hair excreta etc) when they are grown ups. Pets play great parts in rekindling the tender feelings in children and make them good persons in future.

The instructions for proper dog training may sound like tall orders for adults who are either busy or lazy. If entrusted to kids, they will do it with pleasure and bring dramatic results in the rearing of your pets, because children are pet- trainers par excellent, the reason is simple they love their pets, that is all and nothing else!